Standard Catalog of World Paper Money

The Standard Catalog of World Paper Money is a well-known catalogue

Paper money catalog

A paper money catalog or banknote catalog is a catalog of banknotes and articles related to notable ones. The catalog is an essential tool of collecting as it provides information about the articles that many times cannot be extracted from them directly, such as the amount of banknotes printed.In...

of banknote

Banknote

A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...

s that is published by Krause Publications

Krause Publications

Krause Publications is a publisher of leisure-time & enthusiast magazines and books. Best known for its Standard Catalog of World Coins, a series of numismatic catalogs commonly referred to as Krause-Mishler catalogues or simply Krause catalogues. They provide information, pricing, and...

in three volumes. These catalogues are commonly known in the numismatic trade as the Pick catalogues, as the numbering system was originally compiled by Albert Pick

Albert Pick

Albert Pick is a retired German numismatist. An internationally acknowledged specialist author on the subject of paper money, Pick wrote the first modern catalog of banknotes in 1974, and is widely credited with establishing the modern face of banknote collecting.His Standard Catalog of World...

. Since the mid 1980s the titles have been owned by Krause Publications, and since 1994 have been under the editorship of George S. Cuhaj.

Numbering system

The numbering system uses capital letters (e.g. 'P', 'PS', 'PM') and an integer to identify a note. If a note has signature or date variants, then a lower case letter follows (e.g. P120a). If a number needs to be added, and the section is not renumbered then the format is to use a suffix capital letter (e.g. P120A).

Prefix code

P: regular issues
PS: specialized issue such as those issued by private banks or local governments
PM: military issue
PR: regional issue (by a national issuing authority for regional use)
CS: collector series (specimen set or commemorative)

Variants

Regular variants start with the letter a, b, c, ... Error notes usually bears the letter x, while specimen notes have the letter s. Unissued remainders (mostly 19th century incomplete printings) have the letter r, while known 20th century notes issued with replacement serial numbers would also have the letter r. Color trials bear the variant letters ct. When multiple specimens are know, then the format used is s1, s2.